第五课 Lesson 5: 相识 Introductions

I. 是 shì sentences
是 shì is a verb that can be used to link two nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases that
are in some way equivalent.
Example：
李友是学生。Lí Yǒu shì xuésheng. (Li You is a student.)
他是美国人。Tā shì Měiguórén. (He is an American.)
是 shì is usually negated with 不 bù.
Example:
王朋不是中国人。Wáng Péng bú shì Zhōngguórén. (Wang Peng is not Chinese.)
我不是老师。Wǒ bú shì lǎoshi. (I am not a teacher.)

II. Questions ending with 吗 ma

When 吗 ma is added to the end of a declarative statement, that statement is
turned into a question. The person who asks a question that ends with 吗 ma
often has some expectationof the answer. In sentence (1) below, the questioner
may expect that the other person is a teacher, and in sentence (2) the questioner
may expect that the other person is a student.

To answer the question in the affirmative, 是 shì is used, while 不 bù is used if the
answer is negative.
Example:
(1) Ａ：你是老师吗？Nǐ shì lǎoshi ma? (Are you a teacher?)
Ｂ：是，我是老师。Shì, wǒ shì lǎoshi. (Yes, I am a teacher.)
Ｃ：不，我不是老师。Bù, wǒ bú shì lǎoshi. (No, I am not a teacher.)
Ｄ：不，我是学生。Bù, wǒ shì xuésheng. (No, I am a student.)
(2) Ａ：王友是学生吗？ Wáng Yǒu shì xuésheng ma? (Is Wang You a student?)
Ｂ：是，王友是学生。Shì, Wáng Yǒu shì xuésheng. (Yes, Wang You is a
student.)
Ｃ：不，王友不是学生。 Bù, Wáng Yǒu bú shì xuésheng. (No, Wang You is
not a student.)
Ｄ：不，王友是老师。Bù, Wáng Yǒu shì lǎoshi. (No, Wang You is a teacher.)

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III. The Verb 姓 xìng
姓 xìng is both a noun and a verb. When it is used as a verb, an object must follow
it.
Example:
(1) Ａ：您贵姓？Nín guìxìng? (What is your surname? Lit. Your honourable
surname is…)
Ｂ：我姓王。Wǒ xìng Wáng. (My surname is Wang.)

(2) Ａ：你姓什么？Nǐ xìng shénme? (What is your surname? Lit. You are
surnamed what?)
Ｂ：我姓李。Wǒ xìng Lí. (My surname is Li.)

姓 xìng is usually negated with 不 bù .

Example:
(3) Ａ：你姓李吗？
Nǐ xìng Lǐ ma?
Ｂ：我不姓李。
Wǒ bú xìng Lí.
When 姓 xìng is used as a verb, an object must follow it. One should therefore
never say *我姓 Wǒ xìng or ＊我不姓 Wǒ bú xìng as a short answer to the question:
你姓李吗？Nǐ xìngLí ma?

IV. Questions ending with 呢 ne

呢 ne often follows a noun or pronoun to form a question when the content of
the questionis already clear from the context.
Example:
(1) 我姓李，你呢？Wǒ xìng Lí, nǐ ne?
(My surname is Li. How about you?)
(2) 我是菲律宾人，你呢？Wǒ shì Fēilǜbīnrén, nǐ ne?
(I am Filipino. How about you?)
(3) 我是学生，你呢？Wǒ shì xuésheng, nǐ ne?
(I am a student. How about you?)

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V. The Adverb 也 yě

The adverb 也 yě basically means “too, also” in English. In Chinese, adverbs

normallyappear after subjects and in front of verbs. The adverb 也 yě cannot be put
before thesubject or at the very end of a sentence.
Example:
(1) 他也是学生。Tā yě shì xuésheng. (He is also a student.)
(2) 你是中国人，我也是中国人。Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén, wǒ yě shì
Zhōngguórén.(You are Chinese. I am Chinese too.)
The following sentences are incorrect:
(1) 你是美国人，我是美国人也。Nǐ shì Měiguórén, wǒ shì Měiguórén yě.
(2) 他是学生，也我是学生。Tā shì xuésheng, yě wǒ shì xuésheng.
When the adverb 也 yě is used together with the negative adverb 不 bù, 也 yě is
placedbefore 不 bù.
Example:
(1) 王朋不是学生，李友也不是学生。
Wáng Péng bú shì xuésheng, Lí Yǒu yě bú shì xuésheng.
(Wang Peng is not a student. Li You is also not a student.)

(2) 你不是中国人，我也不是中国人。
Nǐ bú shì Zhōngguórén, wǒ yě bú shì Zhōngguórén.
(You are not Chinese. I am also not Chinese.)

VI. 都 dōu

The word 都 dōu indicates inclusiveness. As it always occurs in front of a verb, it is

classifiedas an adverb. However, because it refers to something that has been
mentioned earlier in the sentence, or in a preceding sentence, it also has a
pronoun-like flavour and it must be used at the end of an enumeration.
Example:
(1) 王朋，李友和玛丽都是律师。Wáng Péng, Lí Yǒu hé Mǎlì dōu shì lǜshi.
(Wang Peng, Li You and Mary are all lawyers.)
(2) 王朋和李友都不是老师．Wáng Péng hé Lí Yǒu dōu bú shì lǎoshi.
(Neither Wang Peng nor Li You is a teacher.)

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 Whether the negation word precedes or follows the word 都 dōu makes the
differencebetween partial negation and complete negation.
Compare:
Ａ：他们不都是中国人。Tāmen bù dōu shì Zhōngguórén.
(Not all of them are Chinese.)
Ｂ：他们都不是中国人。Tāmen dōu bú shì Zhōngguórén.
(None of them are Chinese.)
Ｃ：他们不都有弟弟。Tāmen bù dōu yǒu dìdi.
(Not all of them have younger brothers.)
Ｄ：他们都没有弟弟。Tāmen dōu méiyǒu dìdi.
(None of them have younger brothers.)

VII. New Words

zhè 这 this

nà 那 that

shì 是 to be

péngyou 朋友 friend

jiào 叫 to be called

ne 呢 (interrogative particle)

nǎ 哪 which

rén 人 person

Supplementary Words: Countries

Fēilǜbīn 菲律宾 Philippines

Zhōngguó 中国 China

Měiguó 美国 United States of America

Rìběn 日本 Japan

Yīngguó 英国 England

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Déguó 德国 Germany

Fǎguó 法国 France

Hánguó 韩国 Korea

Supplementary Words: Professions

jiàoshi 教师 teacher

lüshi 律师 lawyer

kēxuéjiā 科学家 scientist

zuòjiā 作家 writer

yīsheng 医生 doctor

hùshì 护士 nurse

chúshī 厨师 cook / chef

jīnglǐ 经理 manager

gēshǒu 歌手 singer

wǔ zhě 舞者 dancer

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 练习 Exercise
Name: _______________________________________ Section: _______________________________
I. Introduce the following people based on the information given about them.
1. 名姓míngxìng: Adam Smith
岁数suìshù: 23
职业zhíyè: chef
国籍 guójí：English

2. 名姓míngxìng: Mike Varshavski

岁数suìshù: 34
职业zhíyè: doctor
国籍 guójí：American

3. 名姓míngxìng: Jimin
岁数suìshù: 28
职业zhíyè: singer
国籍 guójí: Korean

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第六课 Lesson 6: 家庭 Family

Family Members
bàba 爸爸 father

māma 妈妈 mother

yéye 爷爷 paternal grandfather

nǎinai 奶奶 paternal grandmother

wàigōng 外公 maternal grandfather

wàipó 外婆 maternal grandmother

gēge 哥哥 older brother

jiějie 姐姐 older sister

dìdi 弟弟 younger brother

mèimei 妹妹 younger sister

érzi 儿子 son

nǚ’ér 女儿 daughter

I. New Words
yǒu 有 to have

xiōng-dì-jiě-mèi 兄弟姐妹 brothers and sisters; siblings

liǎng 两 two (only used with measure words)

jiā 家 home; family

ge 个 (common measure word)

kǒu 口 (measure word for people)

hé 和 and

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 gōngzuò 工作 work

zài 在 to be at/in

yuángōng 员工 staff / employee

II. Supplementary Words: Places

yīyuàn 医院 hospital

xuéxiào 学校 school

bàngōngshì 办公室 office

jiǔdiàn 酒店 hotel

cāntīng 餐厅 western restaurants

fàndiàn 饭店 fine dining restaurant

fànguǎn 饭馆 casual restaurant

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 练习 Exercise
Name: _______________________________________ Section: _______________________________
I. Read the passage and answer the questions (True / False)
Xiǎo Wáng jiā yǒu liù kǒu rén. Tā de bàba shì lǎoshi, māma shì yīsheng. Tā
yǒu yí ge gēge,liǎng ge mèimei. Tā de gēge yě shì yīsheng, tā hé liǎng ge
mèimei dōu shì xuésheng.

小王家有六个人。她的爸爸是老师，妈妈是医生。她有一个哥哥，两个妹妹。她的哥哥
也是医生， 她和两个妹妹都是学生。

1. Little Wang is the oldest child in the family.

2. Little Wang’s father and her brother are both teachers.

3. Little Wang’s parents have only one son.

4. Little Wang’s mother and brother are both doctors.

5. All the females in the Wang family are students.

6. There are six members of the Wang Family.

7. Both parents are doctors.

8. There are four children in the family.

9. Amongst the children, three are students.

10. All males are doctors.

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第七课 Lesson 7: 句型 Sentence Patterns

III. Word Order in Chinese sentences

The main characteristic of Chinese grammar is that it lacks of morphological changes

in person, tense, gender, number and case in the strict sense. The word order,
however, is veryimportant to convey different grammatical meanings. The subject of
a sentence is usually placed before the predicate.

Example:

Subject Predicate Meaning

你 Nǐ 好 hǎo. Hello. (lit. You are good.)
我 Wǒ 是学生shì xuésheng. I am a student.
莉莉 Lìli 在办公室 zài bàngōngshì. Lily is at the office

IV. Sentences with an adjectival predicate

Adjectives in Chinese can function directly as predicates. This kind of sentence is

called a sentence with an adjectival predicate. Adjectives in this kind of sentence can
be modified by adverbs such as 很 hěn, 也 yě, and 都 dōu.
The negative form of sentences with an adjectival predicate is generated by placing
the negative verb 不 bù before the adjective that functions as the predicate.

Example:
Subject Predicate Meaning
你 Nǐ 好 hǎo. Hello. (lit. You are
good.)
他 Tā 很忙 hěn máng. He is very busy.
我 Wǒ 不忙 bù máng. I am not busy.
他们 Tāmen 都很好 dōu hěn hǎo. They are all fine.

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V. Sentences with a verbal predicate

The main part of the predicate in a sentence with a verbal predicate is a verb. The
objectusually follows the verb. One of its negative forms is made by placing the
adverb 不 bù before the verb.

Example:
Subject Predicate Meaning
Adverb Verb Object 吗 ma？
我们 Wǒmen 都 dōu 学习 xuéxí 汉语 We all study
Hànyǔ. Mandarin.
我 Wǒ 不bù 知道 I do not know.
zhīdào.
我 Wǒ 性 陆 My surname is
xìng Lù. Lu.
您 Nín 明天 有 时间 吗 ma？ Do you have
míngtiān yǒu shíjiān time tomorrow?
/ Are you free
tomorrow?
我爸爸 在银行 工作 My dad works at
Wǒ bàba zài yínháng gōngzuò。 the bank.

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 练习 Exercise
Name: _______________________________________ Section: _______________________________

I. Determine whether the following sentence patterns are CORRECT or INCORRECT.

________________1. 你姓王吗？ （ni xing wang ma）

________________2. 他是不小王。（ta shi bu xiao wang）

________________3. 妈妈四十三岁。(ma ma si shi san sui)

________________4. 办公室在莉莉。 (ban gong shi zai li li).

________________5. 好他们很。 (hao ta men hen)

II. Translate the following sentences into Chinese using the words inside the
parenthesis following the correct sentence pattern.

1. Do you have time tomorrow? (。。。有。。。吗)

————————————————————————————

2. My surname is not Lee. (不。。。)

————————————————————————————

3. Tomorrow is Tuesday. (是。。。)

————————————————————————————

4. My surname is Cruz, how about you? (。。。呢)

————————————————————————————

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第八课 Lesson 8: Forming Chinese Characters
I. Basic Chinese Strokes

II. Components:

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 The left-side element of 油 is 氵(water), a semantic component indicating that
the character has something to do with liquid. Other instances where the 氵
appears as a semantic component include 河 hé (river), 海 hǎi (sea), and 洗 xǐ
(to wash).

On the right side is 由, a phonetic component that suggests the correct

pronunciation.

Note that the pronunciation is not always the same as the phonetic element
within it. From the given example: (每 měi and 海 hǎi)

III. Chinese characters can be divided into six (6) categories:

1. Pictographic Characters 象形字 (xiàngxíngzì) – Characters depict either whole

images or partial characteristics of the object that they represent. Of course,
these characters look less pictographic because of the evolution of the
Chinese writing system over the thousands of years that has passed.
Example:
人 rén (person) 口 kǒu (mouth)
月 yuè (moon) 田 tián (field)
日 rì (sun)

2. Ideographic Characters 指事字 (zhǐshìzì) – These characters are created by

adding signs to conventional symbols and pictographs. Also known as
self-explanatory characters
Example:
一，二，三，四。。。
上 shàng (above/on top)
下xià (below/under)
中 zhōng (middle)

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3. Compound Ideograms – combines two or more words to create a
new word with a new meaning, which is derived from the association
of the original meanings of all the individual components.
Example:
明 míng (bright)，
休 xiū (to rest),
信xìn (to believe)
坐 zuò（to sit）

4. Phono-semantic Characters 形声字 (xíngshēngzì) – majority of Chinese

characters are pictophonetic. Most consist of one component indicating
the sound of the character (the phonetic), combined with one semantic
component (the radical), which shows the category of meaning to which
the character belongs. Identifying which component is the radical takes
some experience though, as it can be found on the right, left, top,
bottom, outside, or inside.
Example:
Semantic component + 周 (zhōu) phonetic component

丝 (sī; silk) 绸 (chóu; silk)

讠(yán; speech) 调 (tiáo; to adjust)

讠(yán; speech) 调 (diào; to tune, or to move)

鱼 (yú; fish) 鲷 (diāo; porgy fish)

隹 (zhuī; bird) 雕 (diāo; to engrave, or a bird of prey)

5. Phonetic loan Characters 假借字 (jiǎjièzì)– a character that used to have

different meaning, is used to represent another word that has the
same sound. Foreign words that are
transliterated also falls in this category.
Examples:
我wǒ (originally refers to a type of weapon)
来 lái (originally meant wheat)

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 万 wàn (traditional: 萬; originally the character for scorpion)
可乐 kěle (coke)
沙发 shāfa (sofa)

6. Transfer Characters 转注字 (zhuǎnzhùzì) – these characters are typically

paired which share the same radical and have a similar meaning.
Sometimes referred to as “mutually explanatory” characters, it is further
differentiated into the following: transference of character form (形转;
xíngzhuǎn), transference of character meaning (义转; yìzhuǎn), and
transference of sound (音转; yīnzhuǎn).
Examples:
考 (kǎo; to test) and 老 (lǎo; old)
窍 (qiào; hole) and 空 (kōng; emptiness)

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 写作练习: Writing Exercise
Name: _______________________________________ Section: _______________________________

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